Parental Love
by mphs95
Summary: Aubrey questions his feelings about his father after Booth finds out Max is sick. How does he resolve this? A/U story that takes place between 12.3 and 12.4.


_**A/N: This came about after my late father's birthday Jan 13th. Our relationship was a complicated one until he died 24 years earlier so this time of year and July tends to be a bit hard. I think that's why I connect with Aubrey so much.**_

 _ **A few of my friends convinced me to write to get my feelings out. So I did. Then I debated on whether to post this. 5546Laura convinced me that it may help others in a similar boat...so I am.**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy this.**_

 _ **This takes place between 12.3 and 12.4. Any man who drinks a black kale chia smoothie for the woman he loves deserves some love of his own.**_

* * *

Special Agent James Aubrey walked to the break room for coffee and his late morning snack. The morning was a particularly pleasant one, starting with the shower he had with his girlfriend before arriving at the Hoover at 8:00 AM. After he finished warrant returns early, he was able to complete his other tasks so his desk was clear by 11:30 AM.

Smiling, he walked with _The_ _Day The Earth Stood Still_ coffee mug into the break room. After judging the brew to be acceptable, he poured a cup before adding some cinnamon to his beverage. Knowing Jessica was on her way with lunch, Aubrey stepped out of the break room only to encounter Max and Christine coming from the other direction.

"Uncle Aubrey!" The girl yelled before running towards him.

Holding his coffee up, Aubrey managed to catch her hug without spilling anything. "Hey there Mini-Booth number one." The agent greeted with a smile. After letting go, Aubrey looked up and saw that the older man was a bit pale. "Hey Max. Feeling all right?"

Max was annoyed that it was that noticeable. "Yeah, just the flu. Is Booth back yet? I don't want to leave her alone."

"Actually, he's still with Stark for their budget meeting. She can hang out with me until Booth gets done if you need to get going."

"Do you have a lunch, Uncle Aubrey?" Christine said. "I can give you some of mine when I'm done eating with Daddy."

Aubrey smiled. "Actually, Jessica is bringing me lunch from the diner. Thank you, though Christine for the offer."

Max looked up and saw a cute redhead enter the bullpen holding two large bags. "I think your date is here, kid."

"Jessica is here, too?" Christine asked.

Aubrey smiled at Jessica as she made her way over. "Yes she is. Now, say goodbye to your grandpa and I'll let your dad know you're with me."

"Bye Grandpa." Christine said before hugging the older man.

It didn't escape Aubrey's notice that Max seemed slightly unsteady on his feet while hugging his granddaughter. Knowing how proud the man was, he kept it to himself, figuring he just wanted to get home and suffer alone.

However, the agent didn't miss when the older man straightened himself with effort when his girlfriend arrived.

"Hello, Jessica. You're looking lovely today." Max said.

The redhead smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Keenan."

Max took a deep breath. "I told you young lady, it's Max."

"I'm sorry Mr—Max." Jessica said shyly before turning to the young girl. "Hey Christine."

"Hi Jessica. I get to hang out with you and Aubrey until Daddy returns."

"Cool."

Max began to feel weak and needed to get off his feet for a while. "Well, ladies and gent. I bid you farewell."

"Bye." Everyone said as they waved to the older man before he walked away.

"He's the same age as your father!" Aubrey whispered when Max was out of earshot.

"Superman, you're so cute when you're jealous." Jessica said before turning to Christine. "Ready to hang with us in your Uncle Aubrey's office?"

"Yeah!" Christine said.

The agent made a face. "I'm so not jealous—"

"Lead the way, Christine." Jessica said before the two women started without the agent.

"I'm not…no way am I…hey wait up you two. I'm hungry." Aubrey said before picking up the pace to meet up with them.

* * *

Two hours later, Aubrey was walking out the break room again, this time with a black kale smoothie and more coffee. As he entered the bullpen, he saw his boss storm towards his office. The younger agent didn't flinch until Booth shut the door. Something was definitely wrong.

He saw the faces of the agents giving him looks ranging from fear to thinking he's crazy as he approached the office. Taking a breath, he knocked. Not getting an answer, he tepidly opened the door.

"Is it safe to approach?"

Booth stared at the wall. "Not in the mood for jokes, Aubrey. If that's what you're up to, turn around and go to your office."

He didn't want to invade the man's privacy so he did what he could. "Well, you scared the shit out of some of your agents in the bullpen. I just want to make sure things are good."

"Peachy as always, Aubrey. Any more questions?"

The younger man knew when to retreat. "Nope, going to prep a few case files for Caroline. If you need anything, you know where my office is."

"That I do." Booth replied quietly.

The look on his friend's face made his stomach turn. If he didn't know any better there were tears in his eyes. "Booth…what's wrong?"

"I just…need to be alone right now. I'll talk to you later, all right?"

"Okay." Aubrey said. "You know where to find me."

When his boss didn't respond, the younger man turned around and headed back to his office. When he arrived, he set the food down and got back to work. His experience with Booth was that he would come to you when he was ready.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Aubrey made his way through the bullpen again while holding up a form. He didn't want to bother Booth, but this matter needed to be brought to his attention. As he got closer, he saw the door open and was grateful. Knocking on it, he entered.

"We've got a problem, Booth. I just got a call from Caroline."

Booth listened to the other agent and took the form Aubrey handed him. After reading it, he got up and stomped to the doorway. "Thompson!"

Aubrey watched as the agent got up and took his time getting over there. Agent Ted Thompson was a major dick who thought he was God's gift to the Bureau. He couldn't wait until the pig retired.

"What can I do for you, Sir?"

Booth shoved the form in the other agent's hand. "Ms. Julian called Aubrey with this and Aubrey came to me. Now I'm giving it to you because it's your case. Fix this screw up by Friday or Caroline will come after you."

"Yes, sir." Thompson said fearfully before rushing back to his desk.

"Man, you would think someone was going to hurt Thompson." Aubrey said sarcastically.

"If that is not taken care of within 48 hours, he knows Caroline will kill him and I won't cry about it." Booth said.

"Well, I'll get back to the wonderful world of administrative fun." Aubrey said.

"Wait. Come in for a moment." Booth said. "Shut the door, too, all right?"

The younger agent realized Booth was ready to discuss what had bothered him earlier. Doing as asked, he shut the door, and sat down. "Booth, what's wrong?"

He saw the older man look down at his desk for a moment before looking up. "Christine and I were having lunch at the diner when she saw another customer walk by wearing one of those hospital bracelets patients wear. She asked me why people wear those and I told her it was because they were sick and it lets the hospital know who they are in case they get lost…"

Aubrey could see the other man was hesitant to go further. "Did Christine accidentally say something to the other person?"

"No, no…ummm…she said something else instead."

The lanky man waited for Booth to speak, but when he did, it wasn't what he was expecting.

"She said it was like one that Max had in his coat at Bones' surprise party." Booth stuttered. "She even described the logo."

"Maybe he was just there to get a test, Booth and didn't want to worry you."

Booth looked up at Aubrey. "When Wendell was getting chemo and his other treatments I would sometimes take him home afterwards. He had a bracelet just like the one Christine described."

Aubrey's stomach sunk. "Does Christine suspect anything?"

"No. After I dropped her off at the day care, I went to Max's place. He looked like shit, but I confronted him about what she told me. I told him if he lied I would arrest him for a few hours and tell Bones. That got him talking."

Aubrey listened as Booth described his conversation with Max. "What is his prognosis?"

"He had flu symptoms for months, but with all Bones went through with the Puppeteer case, Max was too distracted to go to the doctor. At the stage he's at now…his life would be prolonged but the quality would suck after a while."

Aubrey tried to come up with the right words to say but couldn't. "I'm sorry Booth. Is there anything I can do?"

Booth exhaled. "I don't know, Aubrey. I told Max he had to tell Bones today. If I take her home early to see her father, Angela's antennae will go up. If I ask her and Hodgins to take the kids tonight so Bones can see her father, she'll bombard us until she knows. I love Angela but she's a nosy pain in the ass sometimes."

The younger agent thought for a minute then came up with something. "What if Jess and I take the kids tonight?"

"I can't ask you to do that, Aubrey."

"Why not, Booth?" Aubrey said. "The mini-Booths love me and they love spending time with Jessica."

"I thought you said she was working on her dissertation this week." Booth said skeptically. "Being around kids will probably distract her."

"She got a lot done this week so she's all set. We were just going to the diner and have a Star Wars marathon tonight at my place."

"Didn't you guys have one a few weeks ago?" Booth asked.

"Yeah…so?" Aubrey asked, not understanding the issue.

"Because…never mind, Aubrey." The older man said shaking his head. "Okay…okay, but they need to come home in the morning because we have to tell Christine. I'll run home and get their stuff together in a little bit before picking up Bones and the kids."

"I have to pick up Jessica tonight from the lab. How about you leave the stuff in Doctor B's office and we can grab it and swing by the day care for the kids?"

Booth thought for a moment. "Actually that would be a lot easier. Thanks, Aubrey."

"Of course, Booth."

The older agent thought for a moment. "No funny stuff with Jessica. I don't need my children to see you make out with your girlfriend."

"Come on Booth…just because they caught us kissing one time—"

"One time too many." Booth said. "I'll call Bones and tell her we're meeting with her father tonight."

Sounds good." Aubrey said before getting up. As he got to the office doorway, Booth got his attention again. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"You'd do the same for me, Booth."

Walking out, he headed back to his office and shut the door. Taking a minute to breathe, he speed dialed his girlfriend.

"Jess, it's me. There has been a slight change of plans tonight." He waited for her to respond. "What are they? Well, we're having a slumber party with Hank and Christine tonight."

* * *

Five hours later, Aubrey unlocked his apartment door and Christine ran inside, followed by the agent holding the children's bags and Jessica holding Hank while carrying in the baby gate. When inside, Aubrey dropped the bags and shut the door as the redhead helped the toddler get his coat off.

"Uncle Aubrey, can we watch a movie now?" Christine said. "Daddy let me bring _Rio_ and _Ice Age_ tonight."

" _Rio_ and _Ice Age_? Sweet!" The agent said. "That's fine but we have to get your jammies on first and brush your teeth because you had chocolate milkshakes at the diner."

"Who's going to help Hank?" Christine said. "Mommy and Daddy still have to help him."

"We'll be there in a few minutes, Sweetheart." Jessica said before handing the young girl the backpack they were sent with. "Now, can you carry this and walk Hank into the back bedroom?"

"Of course, Jess." The young girl said before taking the bag and her brother's hand. "Come on Hank."

The couple chuckled as the young girl dropped the backpack to the floor and dragged it while helping her brother. Thirty seconds later, they disappeared into the room at the end of the hall.

"So Doctor B is finding out about her father right now." Jessica said in a low voice.

"Yeah. Tomorrow, they have to tell Christine. Perhaps it will be easier by then for Doctor B once she processes it."

"When my dad has his stroke it took a long time just to…acknowledge it, much less deal with it. It never really goes away."

Aubrey thought what his girlfriend said and how her voice softened as she spoke about him. Earlier, he saw the tears in Booth's eyes in his office as he talked about Max. If he found out his dad was dying tomorrow, would he care?

Probably not…and it hurt.

"Superman, you're being quiet."

Snapping out of his thoughts, he turned to his girlfriend. "Sorry. I—"

 _"We're ready! I even put Hank's pajamas on him."_

"Uh oh." Aubrey said, grateful for the change in subject. "We should probably make sure she didn't put them on the little guy backwards."

"Aubrey, what were you going to say?"

"Not important." Aubrey said. "Come on, Jess. If we're going to have time to watch _Rio_ and _Ice Age_ before the kids go to sleep, they have to be ready for bed."

The redhead knew when her Superman was trying to change the subject. She would let it go…for now. Taking Aubrey's hand, she led him down the hall to the back bedroom.

"Well then, let's not keep the Mini-Booths waiting."

* * *

The four were 2/3 of the way through _Ice Age_ when Jessica saw the children asleep on the floor where they were camped out to watch movies. Turning to her boyfriend, she saw he was engrossed in the adventures of Sid, Manny, Diego and the others. He was like a kid himself, but it was time to bring him back to Adult Land.

"Aubrey, they're asleep."

"What?" The agent said, knocked back to reality.

Jessica smiled. "I said…the kids are asleep. We should put them to bed."

"Of course." Aubrey said. "Then we can finish the movie."

The redhead looked at the time. "Superman, it's almost 11:00. We let these kids stay up way later than they were supposed to and we've been up early. Aren't you tired?"

"Nope. Never too tired to watch _Ice Age_. When it's over, we can make out."

Jessica giggled in spite of herself and put her concerns aside for the time being. "All right, we can stay up after the kids go to bed and make out."

"Yes!" Aubrey whispered loudly as he pumped his fist and elbow.

"Come on, Superman. You take Christine and I'll take Hank." Jessica said before getting up.

Aubrey followed her and picked up the elder mini-Booth. Quietly, they carried the two children into his spare bedroom. When done, the two went back in the living room to finish watching the movie.

* * *

It was 1:00 in the morning when Jessica woke up in the darkness of Aubrey's bedroom. Moving closer into her boyfriend's arms, she immediately noticed his tenseness. After waiting a moment, she acted.

"Aubrey, what's wrong?" Jessica asked. Greeted with silence, she pressed again. "You're not asleep, James Aubrey, so quit faking it. Now tell me what's wrong?"

In the dark, Aubrey made a face before looking down at his girlfriend's head on his chest. "How the hell did you know I wasn't sleeping?"

"Because you're tense and your breathing is shallow. There's a reason I have an IQ of 168 and it's for moments like these." Jessica said before reaching over Aubrey in the dark towards his nightstand.

"Jess what the hell are you doing?"

"This." She replied before hitting a power bar, illuminating the room's immediate vicinity.

"Ahhhh bright light!" Aubrey moaned loudly before putting the pillow over his head. "What the fuck…."

"Watch your language, Superman. The kids are asleep in the next room." The redhead said. "Now, you've been off all night. What's going on Aubrey? No jokes, no sarcasm, and no distracting me with kisses."

Aubrey lifted the pillow from his head and faced his girlfriend. "I'm a little sad my partner's wife has to find out her father is dying tonight. I'm also feeling bad for Booth because he's close to Max. No one should have to deal with that."

"What else, Aubrey?"

The agent sat and gathered his thoughts. He felt so stupid now voicing them but knew that Jessica was like a dog with a bone. What would help her someday become one of the best forensic anthropologists in the world also made her annoying when you didn't want to talk.

However, he knew that if it was the other way around, he wouldn't let it go with her. Jessica loved him and they were part of each other's future. If he couldn't tell his best friend, there was a problem.

By now used to the light, Aubrey tossed the pillow to the end of the bed. "I saw Booth today, Jess while he talked about Max. He was…devastated. Not just for Doctor B, but also for himself. He lost his grandfather a couple of years ago while he was in prison who took the place for his drunken piece of shit father. Max was what he had left."

"I know." Jessica said as she listened to her boyfriend speak.

"Your father is partly disabled in a nursing home, but he was a good father to you. Angela's father is Billy Gibbons and he is protective of her to the point that he got Hodgins tattooed twice. Hodgins misses his parents terribly. Cam and her parents are good. Hell, Max was a bank robber and he even went to jail to be back in Doctor B's life. If that's not parental love I don't know what is."

"I know." Jessica said before propping herself up on her elbow. She knew Aubrey had something else to say, so she waited for him to gather his thoughts.

The agent sat up in the bed until his back rested on the headboard. Closing his eyes, he inhaled and exhaled. "I…don't have that, Jess."

The redhead figured out what was wrong. Sitting up, she took her boyfriend's hand, waiting for him to speak again. It crushed her to see the tears well up in his eyes before he quickly wiped them away.

"My father chose to rob people blind and leave my mother and me with nothing just to save his ass. He ran away to a country where the US couldn't extradite him. For twenty years…no phone calls…no letters…no emails…smoke stacks…nothing."

Aubrey wiped his eyes as another tear fell. "The son of a bitch now has stalked me and probably you for over a year. He was in the same city as me and not so much as a call or a card on my birthday. You know the worst thing of all, Jess?" Aubrey asked.

Jessica combed his hair back from his face as she continued to listen. "What's that, Aubrey?"

"If he contacted me on my birthday and I found out later that he was dying…I don't think I would give a shit. I should because he's my father…but I don't. I lost my mother and it took me months to even talk about it, much less acknowledge and deal with it. If it wasn't for her…I don't know where I would be today."

Aubrey looked to his girlfriend. "I don't have anything with my dad that I can recall that was good, Jess. If my dad died, I would feel some loss, but I wouldn't be sad like Booth was today. I would just…have a beer and toast to finally knowing where he was."

The redhead kissed her boyfriend on the cheek and laid her head on his shoulder. "You know I would be right there toasting with you, right?"

"You wouldn't have to."

"I know, Superman, but I would. Your father being back affects me, too. Should I ever get the chance to see my future father-in-law, I would use some of the moves my brothers taught me to kick his ass."

Aubrey's eyes got large as he realized what she said. "Your future father-in-law?"

Jessica aimed her green eyes at her boyfriend. "James Aubrey, have we not discussed our future?"

"We have—"

"Didn't we agree that the plan was we would always be together?"

"Well yeah, but—"

"Well, Superman, as much as I look up to Doctor B and Booth's relationship, we are not waiting until we have a daughter already before finally getting married. If Angela and Hodgins can be married before having a family, so can we…someday."

Aubrey forgot about his father for a moment as he chuckled. "Someday?"

"Yep." The redhead said with a smile. "When you're ready, you're going to ask me to marry you, Aubrey. We're going to have a simple ceremony or elope. Should Philip Aubrey show up then, well, my high heel will be up his ass before he gets arrested."

Aubrey chuckled. "Jessica Warren, you're the only person who can make me laugh right now."

"I'm serious, Aubrey."

"I know. I believe you'll do it, too." The agent said while chuckling.

Jessica took his hand. "Aubrey, there's nothing wrong with your feelings about your dad. You don't have to fake devastation if you can't. You have every right to feel what you feel should that time come. If people don't like it, I'll kick their ass, all right."

"You'd slay that dragon for me, Jess?" Aubrey asked with love.

"I'd slay any dragon for you, Superman." Jessica said. "By the way, you were wrong about one thing."

"What's that, my beloved squintern?" Aubrey asked as he combed a piece of Jessica's red hair from her face.

"That bit about how you don't have the kind of parental love that every else got? You're full of shit."

"Excuse me?" Aubrey said, taken aback as their loving moment changed to another type of moment.

"You had it Superman…in your mother. From what you've told me she helped make you the man you are today…the man I'm in love with. When your coward father took off, she stayed behind. She did what she had to do to make sure you succeeded."

Jessica pointed a finger at Aubrey's chest. "She's still around…in here. Someday, you're going to give that same love to our children. You're going to give the same example to them as your mother did by always being there."

Aubrey took her hand and kissed it. "How did I ever score a woman like you?"

"By being the man your mother raised you to be, the opposite of what your father showed himself to be."

The agent pulled his girlfriend closer. "Cool. Now, can I show you the man I can be when it's just us?"

"As long as you keep it PG – 13, Agent Aubrey. We're not alone tonight."

"But of course." Aubrey said contently before hitting the power bar, covering the room in darkness. "We'll save the best stuff for tomorrow night when we play sexy forensic anthropologist and horny FBI agent."

Jessica's laughter broke through the darkness.


End file.
